Has your Thai bank ripped you off?

[midzo]

I got a call from my national Thai bank regarding my 800,000 baht retirement visa exemption deposit account. The rep suggested I would be better off with a timed account.

 

I met with the rep, who laid out a very attractive offer. Much higher interest, free gym membership, platinum credit card, access to first class lounge at Swampy, etc. I could add to the account at any time.

 

Sounded good. I had three questions.

 

What is the interest rate?

May I withdraw the money at any time?

Will this account still be acceptable by immigration at renewal time.

 

Answers:

 

Yield 7.125%

Penalty for early withdrawal.

Yes, no problem with immigration, we do this all the time for foreigners.

 

A year later, when getting my bank letter for visa exemption renewal I discovered:

 

Yield was 1.125%

200,000 was on hold to secure the credit card.

255,000 baht was gone. It was transferred to a life insurance company.

I no longer had 800,000 baht. I had 345,000 baht.

 

Life insurance company said I was on a savings plan. I could give them another 255,000 a year for 5 years, then wait 10 more years and get 2 million. No way to recover any money, unless I gave them the additional 1.25 million. Then they would return a portion of it based on how long they held it.

 

Yes, I am an idiot. Yes, the guy lied through his teeth. Yes, I should never have signed anything I couldn't read. No need to beat me up about this, I've self-flagellated at length.

 

My attorney says this is not uncommon. He's suggested I find others who have suffered the same fate. Bringing more than one victim to the authorities substantially increases the chance of regulatory action.

 

Anyone else been burned by this scam? There may be a chance of restitution. 

 

 

 

[tonray]

You bought an annuity contract....

[thequietman]

Take your claim to the Bangkok Bank and tell them that you were lied to. This is not the first time this has happened to both Thai and foreigner. They are aware of this scam. The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks) should chase this up for you and hopefully you will get all your money back. You were lied to, tell them that.

Good luck.

[Langsuan Man]

At this point your only hope is the Office of the Consumer Protection Board,  you can file a complaint online and they will investigate.

Just the threat of using them made SCB to return my funds that had been accidently transferred to SCB's own charity

 

http://www.ocpb.go.th/ewtadmin/ewt/ocpb_eng/ewt_news.php?nid=30

[Langsuan Man]

12 hours ago, thequietman said:

The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks)

Not true, Bangkok Bank is a private bank and has no control or influence with Thai banks 

 

Bank of Thailand (BOT) is responsible for controlling banking in the Kingdom 

 

https://www.bot.or.th/english/aboutbot/rolesandhistory/pages/rolesandresponsibility.aspx

[thequietman]

2 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

Not true, Bangkok Bank is a private bank and has no control or influence with Thai banks 

 

Bank of Thailand (BOT) is responsible for controlling banking in the Kingdom 

 

https://www.bot.or.th/english/aboutbot/rolesandhistory/pages/rolesandresponsibility.aspx

Yes, sorry I meant Bank of Thailand.

[dotpoom]

Am sorry to hear your story....I sincerely hope you get satisfaction with whatever course of action you take.

[Shaunduhpostman]

I hope you and others will be able to have something done about this, turns my stomach reading about it and it is all too familiar if only at a less significant levels than 100,000's of baht. I am lucky the ripoffs I have had to sustain are relatively trivial. Nevertheless it goes with the territory, this country is essentially 3rd world and people feel they have no other way to wealth and riches than  to cheat and steal from others even if it is not returning small change at the corner shop or false advertizing of products that don't work or are even harmful. Once again there is no rule of law, so there is nothing to stop anyone from ripping anyone off. Most dealings with Thais under the legal set up really are unthinkable

 

Sounds like the usual lies of omission that is ubiquitous in this society's interaction style and almost seems to be an acceptable way to present or talk about anything in Thailand, especially when someone wants to do business with you or sell you something. The classic one in my experiences of being ripped off or otherwise left high and dry is, "Well, we already told you about that before, why you not listen?" or "Why you don't know that already?" The reluctance to put things in writing and perhaps the aversion to literacy in general may not be unrelated to securing that the minions can continue to be played for many more decades on the "we told you before" one. Even in communication about relatively trivial things with Thais, I have become quite paranoiac constantly noticing what is not specified or seems not quite right because the background or important key details are not mentioned. And in too many cases my questions to clarify things are not well received.

 

Again, I am sorry to hear about what has happened and much that happens in my dealings with my bank suggests to me they are not to be trusted for a minute. I keep most of my money in a country where there is some semblance of rule of law. Keep us posted about how things develop, I for one would like to know if they are made to return your money.

 

 

[KIWIBATCH]

I never ever keep more than 50,000b in a Thai bank..I simply don't trust them...they lie...they won't provide anything in writing after ear bashing you for an hour or two with some sort of "promotion" in broken English which supposedly benefits you ...I keep the bulk of my money in an overseas bank a/c. I know I will get slam dunked on TV for being paranoid...

[chicowoodduck]

Reminds me of the time I had over a million baht in the TMB and when it came time for my interest payment the manager told be not possible to give to farang...?  Got in touch with the big boss in Bangkok and from the sounds of it the local bank manager was the one getting my interest payment on the side.....lol....Took a few months but got my interest and withdrew my money out of the bank and back home to the USA.....slept like a baby ever since....surprise...????

[zeamonkey]

This happend to me too with Bangkok Bank, smaller amount but i managed to get 75% of my money back after countless calls to the manager over a month etc. 2013.

[inzman]

There are simply no protections in Thailand. Never trust anybody or any institution with your money. They come up with new and creative ways to milk your cash at every opportunity. Keep your assets in the west and transfer what you need. 

[amjamj]

"Yes, I am an idiot. Yes, the guy lied through his teeth. Yes, I should never have signed anything I couldn't read. No need to beat me up about this, I've self-flagellated at length."

 

The beginning is true, but I don't believe that you have been intentionally scammed, you just o not understand what people explain you like most people I meet who do not speak Thai and don't even understand each others when speaking with their girlfriend or wife.

 

 

 

 

 

[NoshowJones]

2 hours ago, dotpoom said:

Am sorry to hear your story....I sincerely hope you get satisfaction with whatever course of action you take.

Yes, the banks will steal from you at every turn, Bangkok bank stole almost 2000 Bt from me, I will just say I used a branch outside of my province, and took about five minutes of their time.

[NoshowJones]

3 minutes ago, inzman said:

There are simply no protections in Thailand. Never trust anybody or any institution with your money. They come up with new and creative ways to milk your cash at every opportunity. Keep your assets in the west and transfer what you need. 

Not just in Thailand, the banks in the UK also know very well what legalised theft is.

[Lamkyong]

On 4/1/2017 at 8:12 PM, thequietman said:

Take your claim to the Bangkok Bank and tell them that you were lied to. This is not the first time this has happened to both Thai and foreigner. They are aware of this scam. The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks) should chase this up for you and hopefully you will get all your money back. You were lied to, tell them that.

Good luck.

The Bangkok bank (which is in charge of all banks)            incorrect not so

[12DrinkMore]

Banks are scammers all over the world.

 

There is one principle that should never be ignored.

 

"Do not, under any circumstance, accept an offer from a cold call".

 

My ex-gf was nearly caught up with one of these scams, also the BBL. She had all her money in a deposit account, which she was plannig to use in about six months.

 

After a trip to BBL to deposit some money she came back all smiles, with a few sheets of paper and nothing left in her bank account. Ten minutes later she was back in the bank cancelling some life insurance savings scam. B4st4ards took a week to post her money back to her account.

 

Otherwise I have no problem with Thai banks. But I do know quite a few Brits who put their trust in the UK banking system and UK government.

 

- Lloyds is still owned by the government after it failed and was bailed out. 13 UK finance institutions failed in 2008.

 

- The UK government has a proud multi-decade history of destroying the GBP. With the latest 15% lurch downwards last year and no sign of any strength in the GBP whatsoever. If they carry on it will be dropped as a major currency.

 

Edited April 3, 2017 by 12DrinkMore

[Straight8]

The offer of a yield of 7.15% (12 month fixed is yielding about 1.60%) would have been enough of a mighty red flag to know something fishy going on here.

 

 

[Destiny1990]

Bring this case and simular ones over to the consumer protection board.

[samsensam]

 

can you prove the conversation took place? recording? confirmation letter/email? otherwise it's your word against his word and the fact you didn't understand the document you signed doesn't make it not legally binding. ignorance is not a defence.

 

as others have said the return promised should have warned you, or at least encouraged you to dig deeper.

[renaissanc]

1 hour ago, inzman said:

There are simply no protections in Thailand. Never trust anybody or any institution with your money. They come up with new and creative ways to milk your cash at every opportunity. Keep your assets in the west and transfer what you need. 

People should be aware that no Thai bank will give you more than one million Baht back, if the bank goes belly up. Even if you have 1 billion Baht in the bank spread out over one million accounts, you'll only get one million Baht back. They might have forgotten to tell you this.

[natway09]

If this is in fact a reputable bank you must have the reps card ,,,, go see your Manager at the bank

Caveat mentor,,,,,,,, 7.5 % interest when the going rate in 2% free fitness ????? You did not smell a rat

or read the fine print??????

Beware of people bearing gifts ???? 

[Bangkok Barry]

On 4/2/2017 at 9:06 AM, Langsuan Man said:

At this point your only hope is the Office of the Consumer Protection Board,  you can file a complaint online and they will investigate.

Just the threat of using them made SCB to return my funds that had been accidently transferred to SCB's own charity

 

http://www.ocpb.go.th/ewtadmin/ewt/ocpb_eng/ewt_news.php?nid=30

I contacted them about CTH. They said they'd get back to me within a month and I never heard from them again. so don't hold your breath. I'm guessing that CTH did the same to them as they did to me and ignored all correspondence, so as far at the OCPB was concerned that was the end of it.

[natway09]

Ren,,,, do not be a war monger

The big 5 banks here are more secure than 95% of the worlds banks.

My ex bank in Oz went arse up & I got nearly 31% back.

Half the banks in the UK are being propped up by the Government of the day

[khunPer]

On 4/1/2017 at 1:42 PM, midzo said:

Yield 7.125%

If something sound to good to be true, it often is...

[stevenl]

Reminds me of the time I had over a million baht in the TMB and when it came time for my interest payment the manager told be not possible to give to farang...?  Got in touch with the big boss in Bangkok and from the sounds of it the local bank manager was the one getting my interest payment on the side.....lol....Took a few months but got my interest and withdrew my money out of the bank and back home to the USA.....slept like a baby ever since....surprise...[emoji99][emoji99][emoji99][emoji57]

No way he can withhold interest payment. He may be able to withdraw or transfer, but that would be very traceable.

sent using Tapatalk

[Langsuan Man]

You are not the OP so we don't have a clue as to what problem you had with " CTH " (whoever that is) so your post just increases your post count. It does not answer the OP's problem

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Langsuan Man]

Bangkok Barry (qoute won't work on the TV app)

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[theguyfromanotherforum]

"Yes, I am an idiot. Yes, the guy lied through his teeth. Yes, I should never have signed anything I couldn't read. No need to beat me up about this, I've self-flagellated at length."
 
The beginning is true, but I don't believe that you have been intentionally scammed, you just o not understand what people explain you like most people I meet who do not speak Thai and don't even understand each others when speaking with their girlfriend or wife.
 
 
 
 
 

Oh....If it's a misunderstanding then Farang should easy get his money back. No problemo.

[Bangkok Barry]

38 minutes ago, Langsuan Man said:

You are not the OP so we don't have a clue as to what problem you had with " CTH " (whoever that is) so your post just increases your post count. It does not answer the OP's problem

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

You are obviously new to Thailand, or you would know that CTH was a highly controversial satellite/cable tv service that broadcast the English Premier League football for three years, among other things. My post was in response to another saying that the Consumer Complaints body might be able to resolve this particular problem, and i pointed out that the OP shouldn't be too optimistic about that, from my experience.
And why would I want to increase my post count? For what juvenile purpose? Tell me please. I might be missing out on something.